Be grateful, but...

In conversation with Mitch Horowitz

Mitch Horowitz is an American historian of alternative spirituality, a PEN award-winning author of works such as ‘The Miracle Club: How Thoughts Become Reality’ ,‘Occult America’ and ‘One Simple Idea’. He is also a 2020 writer-in-residence at the New York Public Library and lecturer-in-residence at the Philosophical Research Society in Los Angeles.

While reviewing a range of books on gratitude in The Washington Post, he observes, “it’s not that the urge towards gratefulness is wrong. Rather, it’s that the popularly expressed approach needs to consider the vast numbers of people who have unjustly or chronically suffered.”

He concludes in that article, “So, yes, two cheers for gratitude. But, we need a movement today that recognises the true possibilities — and the limits — of gratefulness for all people.”

We caught up with Mitch Horowitz in an email interview:

Has the pandemic reintroduced a whole new generation to the concept of gratitude?

I think people are still so shocked by how life has been upended by the pandemic that they haven’t yet been able to evaluate it from a place of gratitude. There has been denial, (which is never productive), in some parts of the US and also a great deal of depression. But, no gratitude as yet.

Is it really the key to more mental peace?

Personally — and I realise this may be controversial and even misunderstood — I think victory and power are more important to mental peace than anything else.

Has gratitude become another sort of social media trend (considering the profusion of gratitude journals and jars)?

I think it’s a social trend with meaning. Sometimes a novelty or a trend is helpful, even if it’s incomplete.

Does gratitude mean avoidance of some real issues we might have? Does it stop us from critical thinking or questioning an unjust system? In situations where there is a power imbalance, say, abuse by a partner, can cultivating gratitude actually be harmful? In this context, how do we frame gratitude? Does it not have its limitations?

I think gratitude is helpful in its proper place. To me, healthful gratitude allows us to realise how fortunate we are apropos of people who truly must struggle for life. So many people in the world are denied basic necessities. For a physically secure person, not to feel gratitude betrays a lack of realism.